As he did with the Egyptian revolution, Obama has vacillated at length and taken inconsistent stands. He said at one point that it was time for Qaddafi to “step down” with no possible means of making that happen and absolutely zero likelihood that Qaddafi would do so of his own volition.
His present position is not entirely clear. He claims it is limited to the scope of the UN resolution which specifies only the protection of civilians, but much of his rhetoric seems to include the protection of the revolutionary forces as well, something which the UN resolution does not authorize.
He also needs to get his team aligned. His Secretary of Defense was quite clear just a day or so ago that any form of intervention, even a “no fly zone,” was inadvisable, and he has been silent ever since. His Secretary of State is saying that nothing short of the removal of Qaddafi is an acceptable outcome, so that would make it appear that regime change is this nation’s goal, and that is clearly far beyond the scope of the resolution.
Chris Matthews asked last night “With what special constitutional authority is the president acting here? From the people in the region? Or from the people in this nation? These are good questions and we need to know why they are not being asked.” Listen to the whole thing, he makes some very good points. And remember that he really likes Obama, big time.
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